There were indeed some that did not like him much when hired. After the Saints playoff game and the following draft it died down a lot. I wonder who is really responsible for the success? The Coach or the GM? Both? It would be so cool to sit in the draft room on day one...

Who was calling for Pete's head? Nobody who actually knows WTF they are talking about. This FO is doing an amazing job, the coaching is special, and the 'always compete' formula is working while Schneider has been brilliant in FA and in drafting talent. The team is managing the cap well. Nobody who is informed really thinks this FO is doing anything but the right stuff.

We enter the 4th season under this regime having an incredibly exceptional FA period, the team is better than it has been in, forever, there is depth at almost every position. The draft offers the potential to lock it all in. This is a very young team the future looks so bright we all will need shades.

Superb Owl appears to be an actual short term possibility. The wait since '76 may soon be rewarded for the faithful.

BTW just wanted to say I really totally love what has happened here since 2010 JS will soon be regarded as a genius while Pete is proving he was smart choice.

Until we develop a pass rush that will cause opposing teams to be forced to scheme to defend it we will never be able to completely take the final step. That was done and the final step was taken. The OLine still needs work.

I wasn't around here then, but judging by reader comments over at the Times and other Seahawks related sites, there were definitely Seattle people calling for him to be fired after going with Wilson over Flynn and the slow-ish start that followed. You see the same stuff being said about Sarkisian for UW (unfairly IMO).

Nice to hear there was at least one area of the internet that had their heads on straight. It was clear even last year the huge progress this roster was making.

Was the patience also great for Wilson early on? I recall a poll on the PI site after the first St. Louis game that had 60% in favor of benching him for Flynn. That's just incredible to me. Hoping it wasn't representative of the sentiment from fans who follow this stuff more closely.

There were indeed people calling for Pete's job last year. I know because it pissed me the hell off. It was especially pronounced after some of the tougher losses last year- Rams, Lions, even the Dolphins game. Just your run of the mill reactionary idiotic knee-jerk bullshit. People seem to be forgetting, but emotions ran EXTREMELY high last season around here, highest since 2006/2007. There were also plenty of calls to bench Wilson, too.

We're talking about a very small number of users, most of them I'd never heard of. Still, vocal minorities can be very annoying. And they did exist. I'm surprised people have forgotten. It was so bad that on numerous occasions I seriously considered leaving .net until the season was over.

kearly wrote:There were indeed people calling for Pete's job last year. I know because it pissed me the hell off. It was especially pronounced after some of the tougher losses last year- Rams, Lions, even the Dolphins game. Just your run of the mill reactionary idiotic knee-jerk bullshit. People seem to be forgetting, but emotions ran EXTREMELY high last season around here, highest since 2006/2007. There were also plenty of calls to bench Wilson, too.

We're talking about a very small number of users, most of them I'd never heard of. Still, vocal minorities can be very annoying. And they did exist. I'm surprised people have forgotten. It was so bad that on numerous occasions I seriously considered leaving .net until the season was over.

I remember lots of bench Russell Wilson posts that were really frustrating, and I remember sharing PM's with you about them with you saying you were thinking about leaving. I honestly do not remember one single serious "pete should be fired" post. And as a mod, i read every single post that is made here.

I do remember a thread started by Flyinggreg (or maybe it was techworlds.. but I think it was Greg) where he was asking at what point Pete should go on the hot seat, and then a bunch of idiots with no reading comprehension getting pissed at him because they thought he was saying Pete should be fired. That thread turned into a big bruhaha.

Happypuppy wrote:There were indeed some that did not like him much when hired. After the Saints playoff game and the following draft it died down a lot. I wonder who is really responsible for the success? The Coach or the GM? Both? It would be so cool to sit in the draft room on day one...

The Seahawks don't have a pick in day one so you might not learn a whole lot sitting in the draft room.

Then there is my favorite, so many posters in year two that Pete does not know how to evaluate a QB and will never bring us one.

Too many posters try to make themselves look intelligent by calling someone down, finding someone to blame. Too bad, I truly believe that these posters missed the true magic that was happening in our 7 and 9 seasons. You could see things coming together, the growth, the determination of PC/JS in finding the players. Most fascinating rebuild that I have seen and I was watching football before the Seahawks existed.

warden wrote:Then there is my favorite, so many posters in year two that Pete does not know how to evaluate a QB and will never bring us one.

Too many posters try to make themselves look intelligent by calling someone down, finding someone to blame. Too bad, I truly believe that these posters missed the true magic that was happening in our 7 and 9 seasons. You could see things coming together, the growth, the determination of PC/JS in finding the players. Most fascinating rebuild that I have seen and I was watching football before the Seahawks existed.

Saying he'd never bring us a quarterback would be over the line.

Saying that after 2 years we didn't have the QBOTF in visual range yet, and it was worrisome, is kosher with me. The one swing that they did take was a big fat miss, CBJ. They brought the guy in, not for crazy money but it was a small to mid-sized swing, and he was so terrible that Pete couldn't bear to trot the guy out to the field even when Hass was throwing like 3 picks a game (and I think it literally was 3 picks a game for a stretch).

For a time it looked like they could solve every problem (defense, run game) BUT the quarterback position. And I think folks rightly pointed out that even with all the good they were doing, if they did not solve that puzzle, they would be in trouble as a front office eventually. Pretty much stating the obvious.

In retrospect, yeah, that seems silly, but nobody alive could have foreseen they'd snatch up the Seattle football savior the way they did and have the guts to install him as a starter. They took the one position I was worried about and KILLED it. To the point where now all of us basically would trust them no matter what they did.

There were several rival fans who tried to spark the "Pete is on a hot seat" mantra, saying if he was .500 last year after two 7-9 seasons, Paul Allen should fire him. There was an article on NFL .com where some "experts" thought Pete was on the hot seat at the beginning of last year, prior to him naming Wilson. Billick was/is not a big Pete guy. I think he is jealous.

A couple of our guys were buying into the idea and even non-rival NFL fans that visited would ask the question. That is why the end of last season was such a breath of fresh air to me. Just to know that they would get year 4 without that nonsense. Of course there are fans across the NFL who want to warn against a Wilson sophomore slump or [you fill in the blank] words of wisdom who feel the Seahawks will slip back toward the middle of the pack. I don't expect it, but anything is possible.

I just hope not to have to hear it for the next five years or so. One can hope.

The only criticism of Pete has been in some of his play calling. An onsides kick that was a low % play. Stuff where he suddenly gets too fancy for his own good. But pointing out he has a flaw - no one's perfect - is a far cry from calling for him to be fired. I don't recall anyone at all doing that.

Richard Sherman doesn't just wanna get in your head, he wants to build a vacation home there.

R. Sherman: "I don't want to be an island. I want to be a tourist attraction. You come, I take your money & you go."

scutterhawk wrote:Ya, but remember, "You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".

What if a silkworm took up residense in a sows ear, could'ja then? I dunno, these are just thoughts that keep me awake at night.

As i understand it. There was a four year plan mentioned somewhere at PC's arrival. Whether I read that from a notable source or from...wait for it...wait for it, here, i don't recall.

If that was in fact thier itinerary, which obviously you'd want to be successful in a reasonable span of time, I'd say they're right on schedule. Russell Wilson is the fly by the seat of his pants taxi driver that'll make sure you get to your next destination on time. Early even.

kearly wrote:There were indeed people calling for Pete's job last year. I know because it pissed me the hell off. It was especially pronounced after some of the tougher losses last year- Rams, Lions, even the Dolphins game. Just your run of the mill reactionary idiotic knee-jerk bullshit. People seem to be forgetting, but emotions ran EXTREMELY high last season around here, highest since 2006/2007. There were also plenty of calls to bench Wilson, too.

We're talking about a very small number of users, most of them I'd never heard of. Still, vocal minorities can be very annoying. And they did exist. I'm surprised people have forgotten. It was so bad that on numerous occasions I seriously considered leaving .net until the season was over.

Kearly is 99.9% right. Many posters around here have selective amnesia. There was that crowd who criticized Pete for starting the rookie. Funny how those called for his head now say they only wished to give him head. Go figure.

Well everyone wants a great qb. It often defines a regime. Wins and losses. I remember Pete making a great halftime adjustment against the Bears that got us the victory. I was sold.It was a bright line for me that proved that head coaches in the NFL can make worlds of difference. It was like nothing I had ever seen with the Hawks and my 1987 dedicated fan dome. However if we always had lame choices for the qb position it would be extremely trying. I don't blame fans for the concern.

I recall some grumbling last year before the season really got going. A lot of people didn't like the move to make Wilson the starter and so they were quick to point out if he didn't work out Pete would be in the hot seat, but I don't recall anyone actually saying he should be fired. Of course I may just be being nice here. It's possible there were some actually calling for him to be fired, but I remember more Bevell axe handlers than anything else.

“There’s no reason, with Mr. Allen and the fan base here and the stadium, that this can’t be a stable, long-term winning organization.” - John Schneider

The people that were calling for Pete's head were "experts" that only looked at wins and losses and rarely, if ever, watched what was actually happening on the field. Those "experts" failed to notice the CONSTANT improvement of play. The "experts" expected immediate results for some reason. Had they actually done a bit of research, they would have known that Pete took over a team that had the talent to win about 3 games and led them to a 7 win season and a playoff victory his first year. That team drastically out performed their talent...yet NONE of the "experts" took notice of anything beyond 7-9.

"Experts" didn't realize that a team could actually improve yet finish a season with the same record as the year before. "Experts" expected a better record and again didn't notice the team's improvement. For some reason, the "experts" didn't notice the Seahawk defense rising from one of the worst in the league to being one of the best against the run and middle of the pack against the pass. The "experts" didn't notice integral parts of the offense coming around to be very good either. Once again, all the "experts" saw was 7-9. The "experts" were the only ones that thought Pete was on the hot seat heading into the 2012 season.

For being "experts", it's surprising how surprised they were by the Seahawks this year. ALL the signs of a massive step forward were easily seen had they, the "experts", done just an itty bitty bit of research.

It's rather amusing that the "experts" are just now seeing what I have been watching since Pete Carroll arrived. It sure has been fun to watch this Seahawks team being built up to what it is right now. Too bad the "experts" missed out on the process, they could have learned something along the way.